Archive for April, 2015

Hope you are having a wonderful start to the week, and for the week that is in it, I decided to create my first “Top Tips Wednesday” post.

In Galway, the unofficial RAG Week is taking place all over the city. For those who do not know what this entails, it pretty much means drinking, drinking and more drinking. As a llama, I am partial to a few vodka’s and club lemons, but I have never participated in RAG Week. What is so concerning is the public reaction to what is happening every year and how it is not controlled more. But I feel that we should stop saying “Ban RAG week” and instead look into preventing anything dangerous from happening. Here are my top tips for being safe during RAG week.

Having spent many weekends in Galway and viewing myself as somewhat of a Galway aficionado, I felt compelled to share my experiences of this small city in the west of Ireland. If you wish to escape the busy streets of Dublin but still want to immerse yourself in urban life, Galway is the perfect spot for you!

With a population of 75,000 it may be small but it is certainly mighty. Galway is known for its stake in the arts and culture scene and there is always something going on in this town. While the weather can often be less than inspiring, you can be sure to find something to do when you pass through and when the weather is good in Galway it oozes an effervescent energy.

In the city centre there are plenty of bars, pubs, restaurants, cafes and shops to…

This weekend was a very important one for this very stressed Llama. I was lucky enough to be involved in a Writing Convention which took place in NUIG on Saturday. You may ask, “Why would a Llama want to get involved in such a large event?” Well, my friends, its simple, I just can’t stop saying yes to organizing things. And at this event, we were treated to a variety of talks and performances, one of which was from Sinéad and Saibh from Into The West Blogger Network, who held a talk about Irish Blogging and how to start.

Saibh Egan and Sinéad Carroll from Into The West Blogger Network at the NUIG talk.

Both Saibh and Sinéad run their own blogs (which I will have links for at the end of this post) and have created a place where Irish bloggers from home and abroad can get in…

Peter Kirwan’s sojourn in Stafford could have been very short. In 1853 he was accused of involvement in Stafford’s most notorious killing of the Victorian age, the so-called ‘Five Shilling Murder’. He and two other Irishmen, Ned Walsh and Charles Moore, were charged with the murder of a farmer and his wife. In the end Kirwan escaped the hangman’s noose and ultimately the family survived in Stafford until 1884. They were one of the terminal families who just faded away.

Peter and Margaret Kirwan arrived in Stafford with their three children some time in 1852. Like many of Stafford’s Irish they came from Co. Galway. Peter Kirwan had probably worked in the Stafford area before the Famine, and now he survived on scraps of farmwork. He and his wife were already in their forties, however, and they earned a bit more money by running a lodging house in Plant’s Square…